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Dad says Santa Fe shooting suspect was bullied; school rejects claim

The father of the teen accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Texas high school last week says his son was a "good boy" who was a victim of bullying. Antonios Pagourtzis told the Wall Street Journal his son, Dimitrios, was "mistreated" at Santa Fe High School, where the teen opened fire Friday.

The father of the teen accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Texas high school last week says his son was a "good boy" who was a victim of bullying.

Antonios Pagourtzis told the Wall Street Journal his 17-year-old son, Dimitrios, was "mistreated" at Santa Fe High School where the teen opened fire Friday, killing eight students and two teachers. More than a dozen other people were injured.

"I believe that's what was behind the shooting," he said.

Pagourtzis told Greece's Antenna TV that he wished he could have prevented the tragedy. He said he had asked police to allow him to go into the school during the standoff so his son could kill him instead of students.

“Something must have happened now, this last week,” he told the station. “Somebody probably came and hurt him, and since he was a solid boy, I don’t know what could have happened. I can’t say what happened. All I can say is what I suspect as a father.”

The suspect’s attorney, Nicholas Poehl, said he is investigating whether his client was mistreated by football coaches. The district was quick to reject that theory in a weekend statement.

"It has been brought to the district’s attention that several sources are falsely reporting claims about SFISD high school coaches and bully-like behaviors toward the student shooter," the district said in a statement. "Administration looked into these claims and confirmed that these reports are untrue."

The family of one of the victims say they believe their daughter was targeted because she repeatedly rejected the gunman's advances to date her. Sadie Rodriguez, the mother of Shana Fisher, 16, told the Los Angeles Times the shooting followed four months of advances from Pagourtzis.

As the horror unfolded, Pagourtzis roamed from classroom to classroom, taunting students and blasting away as they made ill-fated efforts to elude or hide from his barrage of gunfire.

About a half hour after the shooting began, Pagourtzis gave himself up, telling authorities he had targeted students he didn't like. An investigation of the shooting is continuing, but Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said he does not believe that any victims were caught in a cross fire and felled by police bullets.

"I don't believe any of the individuals that were killed were from law enforcement," Trochesset said. "I can't give that in full until after the autopsy."

Trochesset said "minimal shots" were fired by officers who pinned down the shooter in a classroom while other officers evacuated the school. He said two school resource officers engaged the shooter about four minutes after the shooting began. One was critically wounded.

Trochesset said the two officers who initially engaged the shooter were "heroes" whose efforts kept the death toll from rapidly rising.

"They contained him in one area, isolated to them, engaging with them, so he could do no more damage to other classes," Trochesset said. "When people were running from the gunfire, the officers that continued to arrive ... didn't run from it, they ran to it."

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday was hosting the first in a series of roundtable discussions examining ways to improve safety at Texas schools. Parents, teachers, mass shooting survivors, legislators and groups that advocate for and against further gun regulations will have their say.

These are the names of the Santa Fe school shooting victims written on paper with flowers at a makeshift memorial outside Santa Fe High School, May 22, 2018. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES FOR THE USA TODAY NETWORK

A woman becomes emotional at the makeshift memorial outside Santa Fe High School in Texas May 21, 2018. On May 18, 2018 10 people where killed during a shooting. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES FOR THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Members of the Billy Graham response team and Crosses for Losses's Greg Zanis pray over ten crosses for the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting out side the school on May 21, 2018. Last Friday, 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered the school with a shotgun and a pistol and opened fire, killing 10 people. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES-USA TODAY NETWORK/

Santa Fe High School senior Amy Roden is embraced by a group of people next to a makeshift memorial in front of the school in Santa Fe, Texas on May 20, 2018. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times, via USA TODAY NETW

Santa Fe High School student Jaelyn Cogburn wipes away tears as she speaks about Pakistani exchange student Sabika Sheikh, who lived with her family, during a service at the Brand Lane Islamic Center Sunday, May 20, 2018, in Stafford, Texas. A gunman opened fire inside Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018, killing multiple people including Sheikh. David J. Phillip, AP

Santa Fe High School seniors participate in a service at Arcadia First Baptist Church in Santa Fe, Texas on May 20, 2018, two days after a shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times, via USA TODAY NETWORK

Arcadia First Baptist Church in Santa Fe, Texas honors a group of seniors on May 20, 2018, two days after a shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times, via USA TODAY NETWORK

Baseball players from Santa Fe High School and Kingwood Park High School come together around the pitching mound to say a prayer before their game in Deer Park, Texas on May 19, 2018. A gunman opened fire inside Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018, killing at least 10 people. DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP

A tape cross with the initials of victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting is placed over the dugout of the Santa Fe baseball team before a baseball game against Kingwood Park High School in Deer Park, Texas, Saturday, May 19, 2018. A gunman opened fire inside Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, killing at least 10 people. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) ORG XMIT: TXDP115 David J. Phillip, AP

Chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team pray on the grounds of Santa Fe High School on May 19, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. Ten people, mostly students, were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire at the school on May 18. The gunman, arrested on murder charges, was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High School. He is being held on capital murder charges, meaning he could face the death penalty. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Tanya Diaz, Brock Sanchez and Lucy Gonzales of League City place flowers, a sign and balloons on a tree outside of Santa Fe High School Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Santa Fe, Texas. STUART VILLANUEVA/THE GALVESTON COUNTY DAILY NEWS/AP

A Texas Department of Public Safety officer places crime scene tape across Santa Fe High School on May 19, 2018, the day after a shooting a mass shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times/USA TODAY NETWORK

A Santa Fe High School student returns to the school on May 19, 2018 as he tries to pick up his car the day after a shooting that left 10 dead in Santa Fe, Texas. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES/TODAY NETWORK

A group of people huddle and say a prayer after a vigil at Texas First Bank in Santa Fe Texas for the victims of the shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead Friday, May 18, 2018. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES/USA TODAY NETWORK

Two girls hold one another Friday evening during a vigil at Texas First Bank in Santa Fe Texas for the victims of the shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead Friday, May 18, 2018. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES/TODAY NETWORK

Students embrace during a vigil for victims of the Santa Fe school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas following a shooting that killed 10 at Santa Fe High School at Santa Fe High School, May 18, 2018. JOHN GLASER FOR THE USA TODAY NETWORK

A group embrace and say a prayer Friday evening during a vigil at Texas First Bank in Santa Fe Texas for the victims of the shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead Friday, May 18, 2018. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES/USA TODAY NETWORK

Two young girls say a prayer over bibles and candles places out Friday evening during a vigil at Texas First Bank in Santa Fe Texas for the victims of the shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead Friday, May 18, 2018. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES/TODAY NETWORK

Santa Fe High School junior Guadalupe Sanchez, 16, cries in the arms of her mother, Elida Sanchez, after reuniting with her at a meeting point at a nearby Alamo Gym following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. MICHAEL CIAGLO/HOUSTON CHRONICLE AP

People gather by the Barnett Intermediate School where parents are gathering to pick up their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. MARIE D. DE JESUS/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP

Students are emotional as they gather by the Barnett Intermediate School where parents are gathering to pick up their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. MARIE D. DE JESUS/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP

Santa Fe High School senior Logan Roberds talks to reporters outside the Alamo Gym where students and parents wait to reunite following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas. DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP

A man hugs a woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. MICHAEL CIAGLO/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP

A woman prays in the grass outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their kids following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. MICHAEL CIAGLO/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP

Santa Fe High School staff react as they gather in the parking lot of a gas station following a shooting at the school in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. JENNIFER REYNOLDS/THE GALVESTON COUNTY DAILY NEWS VIA AP

A woman reacts while making a phone call outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, Friday, May 18, 2018. MICHAEL CIAGLO/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP

In this image taken from video emergency personnel and law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. KTRK-TV ABC13 VIA AP